Solved: ASRock x58 Extreme + OCZ Platinum DDR3-1600 Random Hard-Freeze

[TJCS]

I want to help those of you that are experiencing stability issues with your ASRock x58 Extreme board and OCZ DDR3-1600 memory.

My Current Setup:

CPU: i7 920(D0) @ 4.1 Ghz (1.30v) HT/off
Motherboard: ASRock x58 Extreme
Memory: OCZ Platinum DDR3-1600 (OCZ3P1600LV6GK) @ 1560mhz 7-7-7-24-74-1T (1.654v)
Video Card: EVGA Nvidia 275 GTX
CPU Heatsink: Prolimatech Megahalems + OCZ Freezer
PSU: Corsair HX850
HDD : WD Black 1TB 7200rpm (AHCI Mode)
OS: Windows 7 Professional x64
CPU IDLE : ~40
CPU LOAD : ~61-65

• Problem:

My i7 920 was running @ 4.0 Ghz with memory timings @ 8-8-8-24-1T for 2~3 months without any problems until 2 weeks ago the system decided to hard freeze randomly during steam gaming, h264 playback, and Youtube playback. PC freeze becomes completely unresponsive and requires power reset.

Symptoms:

▶ I get 3 or 4+ hard freezes per day depending how much I use the system. Sometimes it would freeze in as short as 5 minutes, and other times it might take as long as 3 hrs.
▶System hard freeze less frequently when bios setting restore to default.
▶ I can run OCCT linpack test, prime95 x64, and 3DMark Vantage for hours without problems. But gaming, h264 playback, or youtube usually freezes within an hour :hmm:
▶ Memory Tests came back with no problems.
▶ For a week I battled with this plague with no results after trying every bios setting combination I can think of, loosen memory timings, Windows driver update/rollback, and diagnostic tool troubleshooting. Test results came back OK, but still hard-freezes in situations described above :thumbsdown:.
​

• Solution:

After some extensive research I found the following three things that actually works and helped me reach a stable system:

***1. Downgrading the motherboard BIOS from v1.30 to v1.20 helped my system run faster and more stable?!?
▶ I think this is one of the most significant changes that helped stabilized my system. I used identical settings in both v1.20 and v1.30, but v1.30 always resulted with a hard-freeze. Credit given to Hakuteru at OCZ forums for sharing this.
▶ For the first time after building my rig I am able to run my memory @7-7-7-24-1T, 24/7 and STABLE.

2. Running memory frequency below DDR3-1600. Not for all, but for many there seems to be some type of bios conflict running OCZ gold/platinum @ 1600mhz. I reduced BCLK to 195 currently running mine OCZ Platinum @ 1560mhz.

3. Increasing PCIe Frequency from 100 to 105mhz.


​

• My BIOS settings

Note: (Other settings that are not listed below are either disabled because I don't use them, or left at default)​

[FONT=&quot]Overclock Mode[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] BCLK Frequency (MHz) [195][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] PCIE Frequency (MHz) [105][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Boot Failure Guard [Enabled][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Spread Spectrum [Disabled][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]CPU Ratio [21][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]QPI Frequency [7.200GT][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Uncore Frequency [3200MHz][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]DRAM Freqency [800MHz (DDR3 1600)][/FONT]

▶[FONT=&quot]DRAM Timing Control [7-7-7-24-74 CR-1T][/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]ASRock Vdrop Control [Without Vdrop][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]CPU Voltage [Manual][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] Voltage Value [1.30V][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]DRAM Voltage [1.654V][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]IOH Voltage [Auto][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]VTT Voltage [1.340V][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]ICH Voltage [Auto][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]IOH CSI Voltage [Auto][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]IOH/ICH PCIE Voltage [Auto][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]CPU PLL Voltage [1.88V][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]CPU Settings[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]CPU Ratio [21][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Enhanced Halt State [Disabled][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Intel Virutalization Tech[Disabled][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]CPU Thermal Throttling [Disabled][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]No-Exeute Memory Protection [Disabled][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hyper Threading Technology [Disabled][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Active Processor Cores [ALL][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]A20M [Disabled][/FONT]

​

• Final Words:

▶ I tried to make this post as straight-forward as possible, if there is something that you want to know feel free to ask.
▶ Not Every motherboard is not the same. Try your own setting changing 1 bios setting at a time to help yourself isolate the right settings for your board.
▶ After doing the above I have been running my rig for about a week with 0 freeze/issues (knock on wood ^_^). Gaming and multimedia usage is blazing rock-solid.
▶ Happy New Year ! I hope this post can reach at least one person and help him/ser fix freezing problems on their ASRock x58 Extreme.
​

 

[ExcaliburMM]

I'll be running an identical RAM/Mobo/CPU setup, so thank you for this. Should be putting it together next week. I'll report any findings in relation to BIOS and lockups.

Edit:
Hm, it seems BIOS are up to 1.70. I may try the newer first and revert if needed.

 

[Trader05]

Does your system pass prime95 for a long period of time? I had OCZ 1600 6gb CL8 and had issues running it at regular speed. I tested each stick and found out i actually had 1 bad stick out of the set of 3, Memtest came up with no errors. Prime95 failed everytime with the bad stick after about 3 minutes.

 

[TJCS]

@ExcaliburMM:

You're very welcome, have fun with your new rig man. I haven't tried the later bios revisions yet, and I just wanted to enjoy my stable rig for just a few more moments ^_^. But please let us know how the later revisions bios work out for you.
​

@ Trader05

I have no problem running Prime95 or OCCT CPU test with CL8 @ 1600mhz. If you are having trouble running at stock speeds make sure:

VTT: 1.34v
CPU PLL: 1.88
DRAM Voltage: 1.654 (mine can actually run @ 1.579)
Uncore Frequency: DRAM Frequncy x 2 (1600mhz x 2 = 3200mhz)
​

 

[TJCS]

Another week has gone by and I am running the settings that I listed above rock-solid stable. No more freezes and I noticed an improvement in loading speed for steam games.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Awesome. I'll be building mine Sunday barring any unforeseen issues.

 

[TJCS]

best of luck to you ExcaliburMM.

If you run into questions down the road, you can post leave a message here or pm me.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Motherboard has a bad channel. Going to have to send it back.

 

[TJCS]

you sending it back for replacement or you going to return it and get something else?

 

[ExcaliburMM]

you sending it back for replacement or you going to return it and get something else?

It was open box so newegg will only refund it plus a restocking charge and tax. I'm going to have to wait for a paycheck or two before I can actually afford a new one of any kind since I got this one for 118$.

 

[TJCS]

Sorry to hear that man... have you tried talking to another rep at Newegg? They are usually very good at handling faulty orders replacement without re-stocking fees. But then again, I haven't bought an open-box board and not sure if there are special rules for them.